SAYYAF TO FREE GERMAN NEWSMAN
JOLO, Sulu (AFP) -- Abu Sayyaf gunmen
yesterday pledged to free a German journalist from among their 37 hostages within the week
while denying they beheaded another captive, a government emissary said.
The Abu Sayyaf leaders said
Andreas Lorenz of Der Spiegel magazine, who was snatched last Sunday, was to be released
this week without any ransom, according to the emissary who visited the kidnapers' jungle
hideout yesterday afternoon on orders of Jolo Gov. Abdusakur Tan.
The emissary told reporters
that Abu Sayyaf leader Galib Andang also assured him that all the 37 hostages are alive,
contrary to reports from a local official that one of 13 Filipino Christian preachers held
while visiting the gunmen had been beheaded.
None of the hostages were shown
to the emissary.
Lorenz was covering the
prolonged detention of 20 mostly foreign hostages, including three other Germans, who were
abducted in the Malaysian resort of Sipadan on April 23.
The Abu Sayyaf also holds two
Filipino teachers and a student they abducted in Basilan in March.
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